Method of making long lengths of shafting



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Patented June 30; 1885.

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T. R. MORGAN, Sr. METHOD OF MAKING LONG LENGTHS 0F SHAFTING. No. 320,952.

Fries.

PATENT THOMAS R. MORGAN, sa, OF ALLI NOE, OHIO.

METHOD OF MAKING LONG LENGTHS OF SHAFTING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent no. 320,952, dated June 30, 1885.

Application filed May 8, 1885.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS E. MORGAN, Sr., of Alliance, in the county of Stark and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Method of Making Long Lengths of Shafting in a'Single Piece for use in Connection with Traveling Cranes and other Purposes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to the method of making long lengths of shafting in a single piece for use in connection with traveling cranes and other purposes. Shafting as ordinarily made for traveling cranes consists of sections, each about thirty feet in length, which is about the maximum length that can be transported on cars. The ends of the shaft-sections are cut or formed in such a manner as to produce a scarf or other joint when secured together. The shaft-sections are transported to the place where the traveling crane is to be erected or placed, and are then put together, the joining ends of the sections being riveted together. As these shafts are often of great length, sometimes several hundred feet long, they have been found defective and objectionable in actual practice when the sections are riveted together, because the torsional strain on a shaft of such length is so great as to weaken the riveted joints, and often twisting apart the shaft-sections, which of course necessitates re pairs with their attendant delays and expense.

The object of my invention is to obviate the defect and objectionable features hereinbefore set forth; and it consists in an improved method of forming long lengths of shafting, as will be hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a traveling-crane build ing, showing a transverse section of part of 5 the crane and side elevation of the drivingshaft of the crane supported in position by tumbler-bearings. Fig. 2 represents the adjacent ends of two shaft-sections preparatory to heating and welding. Fig. 3 shows a port-able forge on rollers and provided with a handblast attachment. Fig. 4. is a portable anvil. Fig. 5 represents a swage-hammer; Fig. 6, a

(No model.)

battering-ram, and Fig. 7 is a portable trestle. Figs. 8, 9, 10 show details.

I take square cold-rolled iron bars in lengths of about thirty feet each, more or less. These bars are made true and with a polished surface. The cold rolled bars are especially adapted to the purpose of shafting for traveling cranes for two reasons. The skin formed On the surface of the bars in the process of cold rolling imparts increased stiffness to the bars and increases their resistance to torsional strains; also, the process'of cold rolling iniparts a polished surfaceto the square bars, and as the latter serve as a bearing for the sliding sleeve of the pinion, through which motion is transmitted from the square shaft to the mechanism of the crane at any point of its travel, it is important that the sleeve be subj ected to as little friction as possible, which is effected by the employment of the polished bars made of square cold-rolled iron. These bars are then placed in line with their adjacent ends overlapping each other, as shown in Fig. 8, a sufficient number of bars being placed in line to make a single continuous shaft of the de sired length. Then the center of each tumblerb'eari ng is accurately marked by a center punch, and the amount of lap on each end Of the bar to make a weld is also indicated. As the tumbler-bearing of each crane must be distributed with regard to the walls of the building in. which the crane is to be placed, it is necessary to first have the measurements of the walls of the building and from such data determine the distance apart of each tumblerbearing. When this has been done, the center of each tumblerbearing is marked on the shaft, as above stated. Then the sections are placed in a machine and the round bearings for the journals are turned, as illustrated in Fig. 9. After being turned each bar is taken to a drill-press, or a hole, I), is drilled in one end of the bar, as shown in Fig. 10, and is then taken to the blacksmiths shop and the drilled end of the bar cut away to form the female portion 0 of a scarf-joint, while the Opposite end of the bar is cut into a tapered form, (I, constituting the male section of the joint, as shown in Fig. 2. The sections of the shaft are manipulated in the manner above described at the shop where the crane and its parts are manufactured, and hence are shipped in such form. The sections of the shaft are then taken to the building in which the travcling crane is to be placed, and the male and female ends of the two bars or sections are heated simultaneously within the portable forge to a welding-heat. The portable forge is withdrawn and the heated ends placed one within the other, and the battering-ram D applied to thoroughly unite the two ends by upsetting. The battering-ram D is suspended by a cord, (1, and may be brought in direct contact with the end of the bar, if desired; but to preserve the shape of the end I prefer to place a swage-hannner, E, against the end of the bar and have the battering-ram strike the hammer, as represented in Fig. 1. The upset portion of the ends of the sections is placed on the portable anvil, and by means of sledges and a flattening-tool is beaten down to a finished surface. The two sections thus joined are supported on the rollers F of the portable trestles and are rolled along therein into the building, and another section is welded thereto in the manner above described. The operation is continued until the shaft of the required length has been produced, when it is raised to its place by suitable hoisting apparatus, and its journals placed within the tumbler-bearings, as represented in Fig. 1.

The shaft made in the manner described is much stronger and better in every way than shafts composed of sections riveted together. Itis of uniform strength. throughout its length, and when welded as described is not injuriously affected by torsional strains, and hence the sliding pinion is allowed to slide freely therein and transmit motion to the crane during any part of its travel.

It is evident that the process of welding may be varied, and that tools and appliances other than those described may be employed, and hence I do not restrict myself to the particular steps and appliances specified.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The method of making square cold-rolled shafts of unlimited length for traveling cranes, consisting in turning round bearings on the shaft-sections and forming the ends of the shaft-sections in suitable shape for welding, and then welding a sufficient number of the shaft-sections together to form a single con tinuous shaft of the desired length.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

THOS. It. DIORGAN, SR.

Witnesses:

JNO. R. MORGAN, HENRY I-IEER. 

